Does It Hurt?
by fallingforkeeps
Summary: "You got a tattoo?" He had asked in between laughs. "Of what Jules?" She had huffed back then too. And Tim couldn't help but think that she looked cute when she was irritated. "Well I guess you won't be finding out, will you? She had taunted before retreating into her room and ignoring him the rest of the night.


**i had a lot of fun writing this one. **

**enjoy!**

**disclaimer: i do not own any of these characters.**

**...**

"Does it ever stop hurting?" She asked softly glancing over at Tim nervously.

They were watching game tape like they always did when Gracie Belle went down for her nap. It had started a few months back when Tim began helping her dad out with the team. Suddenly Tim was over all the time and the two of them had fallen into a routine. Originally on separate sides of the living room, to the same couch, and one day her feet found a resting place on his lap.

"Does what ever stop hurting Jules?"

He asked with his eyes still glued to the screen and Julie watched him intently. Her gaze darting over his features carefully as she voiced her answer.

"Loving someone who doesn't love you anymore, " she let out quietly.

If Julie hadn't been looking for it, she wouldn't have caught the slight clenching of his jaw. It came and went so quickly that Julie almost missed it. Her eyes stayed on his his face as he cleared his throat and turned to look at her.

Of course he would think the question was for herself, but in reality Julie just wanted a glimpse into his head. And she knew the answer, it didn't stop hurting. She had realized it about a month ago when she'd woken up from an odd dream and had reached over to call him.

Tim, not Matt. She had frozen realizing that the ache she'd felt for months now wasn't there anymore, only to be replaced with another feeling.

That was when she knew that it didn't stop hurting, but that slowly things changed. And the person you were, learned to move on and keep living. That if you were lucky enough, you would meet someone new.

But she'd never expected to fall for the one person who knew exactly how that ache she'd had felt. Because Tim Riggins loved Lyla Garrity, and he always would. At least, that's what she thought she knew.

Tim exhaled slowly as his eyes met hers, he stretched out his hand. Bringing it up to graze her cheek, which sent her heart into a frenzy.

"I'm not going to sit here and lie to you Jules. But I promise you that you'll be okay."

They sat there, both unwilling to look away. Julie wishing she had the courage to tell him to believe the same thing for himself. Tim wishing he could tell her that he wanted to be the reason she was going to be okay.

They sat comfortably in their silence. Both had found an ease in their relationship over the past few months. Moving around each other in sync and knowing exactly what to say or not say. Talking about everything and anything, slipping into whatever it was they were now. Julie would think about how much she wished they could say things to each other with more than just their eyes and their words. She would fantasize about pressing her lips to his and forgetting about reality. The reality that he was in love with someone else, that he saw her as a little sister.

But the truth was that Tim most definitely did not see her as such. The truth was that Tim didn't love anyone else. The truth was that he was trying his best to think about grandmothers, kittens, Gracie Belle mathematical equations, and anything that would stop him from reaching over and doing something that would ruin what he and Julie had built with each other.

She wondered what he was thinking about when his hand left her cheek, shivered when his fingers traced the outline of her tattoo and a smirk appeared on his face as his eyes drifted back to the television.

"Stop." She huffed, irritated by the smirk that gave his thoughts away while trying her best to control her breathing as he continued to trace her skin lightly.

"I didn't say anything," he laughed. His smirk morphing into a grin as she moved her foot away from his hand, causing him to chuckle and grab ahold of her ankle.

He often thought of the day he'd walked in and she began her rant about how her parents had overreacted about the small heart that marked the skin above her foot. He had began laughing loudly, and only managed to get louder when she'd glared up at him.

"You got a tattoo?" He had asked in between laughs. "Of what Jules?"

She had huffed back then too. And Tim couldn't help but think that she looked cute when she was irritated.

"Well I guess you won't be finding out, will you? She had taunted before retreating into her room and ignoring him the rest of the night.

Something about that day had stuck with him and he knew now that it was because that was the first time he'd seen Julie Taylor as more than just the coaches daughter, or Seven's ex-girlfriend. She had crept into every corner of his mind and had driven him crazy for weeks before finally revealing her tattoo to him.

Tracing it had become his favorite thing to do when they settled onto their spots on the couch. It drove her insane.

He turned to look at her again, holding a strong grip on her foot. She crossed her arms annoyed and frustrated.

"I hate you," and he laughed at the absurd statement. His shoulders were shaking and his laugh filled the room as he played with her foot.

"Now Jules, it isn't nice to lie."

Her breath hitched when his hands began to creep up past her ankle. His body had turned to face her completely and Julie couldn't remember when he had done that.

"Now, take it back," his eyes were burning into hers and Julie's heart was pounding loudly in her ears as his hands continued to trail up her calf.

What was he doing? The thought flew into both of their minds, trapped in the moment. And then the sound of cheers interrupted their thoughts and Julie panicked. She kicked out her foot, her eyes widened as Tim's head snapped back and he let a curse out. The moment was broken and Julie was suddenly scrambling up to see the damage of her kick.

"Oh my God, oh my God Oh my God. Tim! I am so sorry, Shit! Are you Okay? Tim!"

Tim's hands had come up to cradle his nose, and he was keeping his head tilted back as Jules continued to ramble and when she saw the blood that was beginning to spurt from his nose she cursed again.

"You're bleeding! Oh my God."

She ran to the kitchen rambling on about ice and towels but Tim couldn't really hear her. He was still trying to focus his thoughts. Damn his nose hurt. He moved his body, resting his head on the arm of the couch, bringing up the edge of his shirt to stop the blood from getting on it. He could hear Julie in the kitchen and he tried laughing at the situation they were in, but it hurt too much so he stopped.

Damn, her kick had been strong. All those dancing lessons must have really done their job, because he sure as hell had not seen that kick being as painful as it had been. Her reflexes had always surprised him, but this was by far the most unexpected scenario he could have imagined from acting on his impulse to tease her.

Tim could feel the blood beginning to run down his face and he tried his best to gather as much of his shirt to prevent it from reaching the couch. He froze when he felt Julie settle herself between his legs, her face looming over his concern filling her eyes. When had she come back into the living room. She was muttering something but Tim couldn't concentrate, his nose was pulsing, his heart was racing, and he couldn't hold back the shivers that ran through his body as Julie crouched over him.

Her hands had tugged his shirt away from his face and her felt her place a cloth in the hand that had been holding the shirt. There was a cloth in it now, and he applied some pressure against his nose, letting the blood pool into the cloth now. His other hand hung freely now and he felt something cold on the bridge of his nose as he tried to understand what Julie was saying. She was still muttering something, and then he felt a cool damp cloth on his chin, she was cleaning his face up and he couldn't make out what she was saying as she did so. He closed his eyes, taking in the feel of her body near his and her hands delicately brushing over his face.

"Tim!" she yelled urgently, and his eyes snapped open to see her looking even more worried. Her eyes were shiny, and Tim was worried that she would start crying.

"You can't close your eyes, okay you gotta stay with me. Oh God, why are you still bleeding? I'm going to have to get another cloth. Oh my God. I can't believe I did that."

Tim laughed, but he winced when a jolt of pain hit him again. He brought his free hand around to her waist to stop her from leaving, and when her eyes met his he tried to convey that he was okay. Julie seemed to understand and she let out a breath of relief. She placed the cloth she had used to clean him up on the coffee table and reached out to tenderly touch his face again. She peered down at him, her eyes scanning every inch of his face to assure herself that he was okay.

"I am so sorry Tim, I didn't mean to..." she trailed softly, her voice trembling and she bit her lip when the first tears spilled from her eyes. Her hand had stopped at his chest and Tim had brought his around to her back, rubbing circles on it trying to calm her down.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm okay" he croaked out, only making her cry harder. Tim couldn't help but be confused by the whole thing. Here he was bleeding, and she was the one crying. She was finally close enough to kiss him, and all she could do was keep apologizing through her tears.

"Hey, I'm okay. My pride hurts more than my nose. Promise" he said softly, still tracing patterns on her back trying to calm her down. He smiled at her when she met his eyes again.

"Really?" she whispered frantically, bringing her hand up to wipe the tears away from her eyes when she noticed all the blood on them.

"Oh my God" she said, horrified when she realized she had his blood on her hands from gripping the shirt he'd originally used to stop the blood. Tim shifted uncomfortably when she reached down and pulled his shirt up carefully trying her best to take it off his body without touching his nose again.

He held his nose gingerly, as she succeeded in pulling the bloody shirt from his body. The sound of their breathing was the only thing filling the room and Tim realized that the game tape had ended sometime in between him getting kicked in the face and Julie having her meltdown. He watched her as she slowly untangled herself and began cleaning the blood from her hands, breathing in and out slowly. He reached out and placed his hand back on her back and she jumped slightly.

Julie suddenly realized that Tim Riggins was sprawled out on her couch without a shirt on and she had to hide the blush that was creeping up her face. He was bleeding, for goodness sake.

"Hey, you okay? She heard him ask and she laughed, turning back to face him.

"Seriously? I just gave you a bloody nose and you're asking me if I'm okay. Are you okay? Her hand came up to cradle his face carefully and Tim held her gaze.

"I'm fine. I played football for you dad remember?" he let out slowly, closing his eyes again when her hand stopped at his neck and she rubbed her thumb against it.

"The bleeding looks like it stopped. Does it hurt?

He hummed against her her hand, and shook his head to let her know that it didn't hurt. He was lying, but she didn't need to know that. Not when it would probably make her cry again or worse get up to get him some aspirin. And he quite liked where she was currently sitting.

"I'll survive" he teased and he chuckled when her other hand swatted his chest lightly. But then her hand stayed there, resting against his skin and he opened his eyes to see her gazing down at his bare skin with wonder.

"You know, if you wanted me to take my shirt off, all you had to do was ask Jules. No need for the violence."

She rolled her eyes at his words, but continued to look down at her hand against his chest. Her other hand slowly trailed down to meet her other hand as well. He shivered as her hands explored his skin, and then they stopped.

She muttered something under her breath and Tim looked at her curiously, wondering if she would continue. Her eyes traveled up from her hands to his eyes and she looked scared. Time brought up his hand to cradle her face and he started to ask her what was wrong when her lips covered his. They were soft, and he was sure that he stopped breathing for a moment, and then her nose bumped the cloth he was holding and he winced.

She pulled away from his face, and looked for a sign that he was bothered by what she had just done. When she didn't see anything she smiled and he grinned back.

"I don't hate you" she whispered "Actually, I think that I like you. Like, like you like you and-" his thumb began brushing against her cheek and she stopped, looking away nervously.

"I think I like you like you too Jules," he said and he tilted her chin down to bring her eyes back to his.

"Yeah?" A smile creeping onto her face.

"Yeah." he responded and her lips pressed against his. Something he was happy about aside from his nose throbbing from the pain. He winced, trying to enjoy the kiss, before letting out a small cry of pain. Julie pulled away wincing as well.

"I'm sorry.I just, got excited" He laughed slowly, removing the blood stained cloth from his nose and Julie grimaced

"I really am so-"

I know Jackie Chan. Let's just take it easy for the next few days, okay." he teased and she scrunched her nose at his nickname.

"You are never going to let me live this down are you?"

"Not a chance"

**AN: you guys have a great day!**


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